Mail-exchange system.



A. HUPP.

MAIL BXOHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1910.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEETS-411111?! 1.

I s I;

l gill Q l I, i

A. HUI MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLIUATION TILED APR. 19, 1910 Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXUHANGB SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1910 Patented Mar. 19,1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIOR mun 11.19, 1910.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEETSSKEBT 4.

"f4 JIQSSQS A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.19,1910

1,020,609. Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEETSSHEET 5.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM;

APPLIOATIOK FILED APR.19,1910

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APB..19, 1910.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 BHEETS8HEET 7.

A. HUPB. MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM. APPLICATION TILED APB.19, 1910.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 sums-sum a.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 1-9, 1910 Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

12 SHEBTS-SHEET 9.

"ell 0 Q W A/ii .1

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXDHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIQH nus 12.19, 1910 1,020,609. Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APR.19, 1910.

12 SHEETS-SHEET 11.

A. HUPP.

MAIL EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

urucuxon Hum APR. 19, 1910.

1,020,609. Patented Mar. 19,1912.

12 BHBBTBBHBBT 12.

ALBERT HUPP, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

MAIL-EXCHANGE SYSTEM.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 19. 1910.

Patented Mar. 19,1912.

Serial No. 556,443.

To all uh/mm it may concern:

Be it known that. I, ALBER -Hora, a citizen ot' the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State oflllissonri. have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMail-Exchange Sys tems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail exchange systems and more especially tothat type for effecting an exchange of mail between sta tions along theline of a railroad and the trains traveling over such road, and myprimary object is to produce automatic means for efiiciently andreliably effecting an exchange of mail in any quantity between thestations and a train passing thereby without injury to the mail pouchesand within a stretch of groundset apart for the purpose.

A further object is to produce apparatus whereby mail may beautomatically delivered from the train without setting the receivingapparatus.

A further object is to produce means whereby the delivery apparatus maybe op erated manually.

Another'object is to produce means where by the deliveryapparatus may bethrown out of gear to prevent its delivering operation.

' A still further object is to produce apparatus of thecharacteroutlined by which mail may he exchanged at either side of thecar desired.

Another object is to provide a car with an external receiver which cannot be opened or set unless the car door is first opened.

Another object is to produce a station crane from which a mail pouch canbe reliably withdrawn from the receiver of a passing car and whichembodies pouch clamping jaws which swing away from the car as the])0H(il is removed and move downward and which can be readily and easilyrelevat'ed to operative position after receiving another pouch.

\Vith these general objects in view and others as hereinafter appear.the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar teatnl'es ofconstruction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; andin order that it may be fully understood refer- 0111'" is to he had tothe accompanying draw mg in which Figure 1, 15 a fragmentary sideelevation of a mail car and SQCt IOIlFi t IEICK, with apparatusembodying my invention. Fig. 2, is an enlarged section on the line IIIIof Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a still larger section on the line III of Fig. 1.Fig. 4, is an enlarged side view of a portion of the mail car withcertain arts broken away to expose features otherwise hidden. Fig. 5, isa vertical section through one of the door openings of the car, on theline V-V of Fig. 7, to show a portion of the car receiving apparatuswhen set in operative position, as

distinguished from said apparatus in Fig. 4, which shows thecar-receiving apparatus in folded or inoperative position. Fig. 6, is asection on the dotted line VI-VI of Fig. 4, when the car-receivingapparatus is set in operative position as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7. is ahorizontal section on the line VII- VILof Fig. 4, with the car receivingapparatus in operative position in full lines and in inoperativeposition in dotted lines. Fig. 8, is a horizontal section of a part ofthe car with the floor forward of the door broken away to exposemechanism below the same. Fig. 9, is a vertical section on the line IX-IX of Fig. 8. Fig. '10, is a section on the line X-X of Fig. 9. Fig. 11,is a section on the line XI-XI of Fig. 8, and also shows the deliveryapparatus, not shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 12 is an enlarged vertical sectionon the line XIIXII of Fig. 10. Fig. 13, is a vertical sectioncorresponding approximately to Fig. 12, of the preferred type of meansforthrowing the delivery appara tus out of gear with. the means forautomatically operating it. Fig. 14, is an en'- larged vertical sectionon the line XIV XIV of Fig. 8. Fig. 15, is a section on the line XVXV ofFig. 8. Fig. 16, is an enlarged section on the dotted line XVI of Fig.11. Fig. 17, is an enlarged section on the line XVIL-XVII of Fig, 14.Fig. 18, is a detail perspective view of a pawl forming,a part of theapparatus. section of the basket on the line XIX-XIX of Fig. .20. Fig.20, is a section on the line XXXX of Fig. 19. Fig. 21. is a. sectionalview of the truck and basket on the line XXI of Fig. 23. showing thebasket in dumping position as distinguished from the position of thesame element. in Figs. 19 and 20. Fig. 92. is a slightly enlargedsection of the truck on the line XXIIof Fig. 23. Fig. 28;is a section onthe line XXIIL-XXIII Pig. 19, 15 a of the receiver.

of Fig. 22. Fig. 24, is amend view of the truck. Fig. 25, is a side'viewof the truck on a reduced scale to disclose the adjustable means wherebythe truck may be caused to dispose the car receiver in operative position. Fig. 26, is an enlarged section taken just below the bottom of thetruck to show means. for holding the same and the basket in normalpositionwithin the car and for effecting the outward and returnmovements of the truck. Fig. 2Z, i a section on the line XXVII-XXVII ofFig.26. Fig. 28, is a detail perspective view of the main member Fig.29, is a view showing the car in end view, a station receptacle for themail discharged from the car, anda station crew} from which the carreceives mail in passing the station. Fig. 30, is a top view of thecrane. Fig.31, is an enlarged section on the line XXXI-XXXI of Fig. 30.Fig. 32, is a vertical section on the line XXXII'XXXII of Fig. 30. Fig.33, is a detail pers ective view of a bracket forming a part 0 thestation crane. Fig. 34 is a detail perspective view of theupper part ofthe modified form of the rock-shaft shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 35, is afragmentary perspective view of the plate which supports "the receiver.-

In said drawings, lindicates a mail car, 2 is oneof the side dooropenings thereof, and 3 the customary slide door closing said pe ng- 4is a worm wheel suitably secured rigidly on one of the axles "of therear truck, by preference, and said wheel meshes with a worm wheel 5 ina suitably supported bearing 7. Shaft 6 is connected by a universaljoint;8 to member 9 of an extensible fitting in the sleeve member 11 andhaving a lug 10 engaging a slot 12 in the sleeve member, and saidextensible shaft is connected by a universal joint 13 with a shaft 14journaled in a suitably-supported bearing 15 equipped with a bevel gear16 engaging a bevel gear 17 on a suitably journaled short transverseshaft 18 provided with a gear pinion 19'.

20 indicates bearings pendent from the car, and 21 is a transverse shaftjournaled therein. Rigidly secured to said shaft is an arm 22 providedwith an ear 23 through which extends a pin 24 equipped with anadjustable collar or nut 25 and with a spiral spring 26 hearing at itsopposite ends against said ear and collar or nut, the lower end of saidpin being pivoted to the outer end of an arm 27 jonrnaled on the shaft21. A

pawl 28 is pivotally carried by said arm 27 and embodies a stop arm 2'9.a triparm 30 and an arm 31 provided 'ith a laterally projecting tooth32, and said arm 31 is connected by a retractile s ring 33 with a pin 34carried by arm 22, t e tendency of said 7 rear truck by secured on shaft6 journaled shaft, said member'- spring being to operate the pawl sothat the tooth 32 shall engage the ratchet wheel formed integral withthe gear wheel 36, meshing with gear pinion 19.

37 indicates a pair of transverse bars bearing a rigid relation to thecar and c0nnected by grooved guides 38 wherein a slidable plate 39 ismounted, and pivoted to said plate is a spring-retracted lever 40fulcrumed at 41' to a point fixed with relation to bars 37, the oppositeor inner end of the lever 40 being connected by a rod 42 to a crank arm43 of the rock shaft 44, carried by the preference, said rock shaftbeing equipped at its opposite or outer end with the crank arm45carrying an antifriction roller 46, for engagement with the cam-facedtrip 47, secured on the roadway,

at or near a station, at the outer side of the track. The crank arm 45is adapted to be rocked u ward in its passage up to thecrest of the trip47 and be reversely operated by the spring-retracted lever 40, in itsmovement upon the trip after passing the crest of the same, i'tbeingnoted that its passage downward upon the trip prevents the slide plate39 from being quickly restored to its original position, for a purposewhich hereinafter appears.

In order to insure the clearance of snow and ice from the trip andtherefore the proper operation of crank 45, the trip is provided at itsends with trunnions 48 pivoted in suitably supported bearings 49, andsurrounded by sprmgs 50 arranged to hold the trip a ainst one or morestops 51, and in the pat of travel of roller 46 and of a" plow 52,secured by preference to the front truck of the car and adapted inpassing to strike the upper inner edge of the trip and force it outwardto substantially the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, and thenrelease it, and in such action dislodge any snow or ice which may beuponit. In ractice themovement imparted-to the, trip by the plow and thesprings is very quick and in both instances is attended by a jarsufficient to loosen and dislodge ice, as will be readily understood.

Referring now to the means for throwing shaft 21 out of gear with thegear 36 constantly driven while the car is in motion, 53 is a leverfulcrumed on one of the bars 37s by preference, and fitting around andconnected in a well known manner to a collar 54 to slide the same onshaft 21, said collar being arranged to rotate with said shaft.

55 is a lever fulcrumed on arm 22 and pivoted at one end to the collar54 and having its opposite end arranged to engage the trip arm 30 of theratchet pawl 28.

"The lever 53 is connected by a retrartile spring 56 to a hanger 57,depending from a rigid part of the car and the free end of said lever isconnected to a cable 58, guided around suitably supported sheaves 59 andpivotally connected to said cable is a link 60 pivoted'to crank arm 61,of a vertical shaft 62, said shaft being suitably journaled and providedat its upper end with a handle 63 (see Fig. 13) occupying a cavity 64 inthe upper bearing projecting upward through the floor of the car, itbeing noted by reference to Fig. 10, that a suitably sup orted stop 65prevents the spring 56, which is under tension, (see Fig. 8) fromswinging the free end of the lever inward.

VVhen' it is desired to operate lever 55 and thereby trip the pawl fromengagement with the ratchet wheel 35, against the resistance of spring33, the mail clerk through the medium of handle 63, turns the rock shaft62 in the direction indicated by the arrow Fig. 10, against theresistance of spring 56 until the ivotal point of connection between thelink 60 andcrank 51, is at the opposite side of the center of shaft 62from stop 65, thus leaving the sprin 56 free to retract and swing lever53 in tie direction the end bars of the truck frame 68 and journaled insaid brackets are short transverse shafts 78 upon which are rigidlysecured by preference, sprocket wheels 79, connected by an endless chain80, the upper and lower strands of the chain being respectively held forthe greater part of their length above and below the frame 81, suitablysupported from the end'bars of the frame. and secured to and dependingfrom the lower strand of the chain is a hook 82, the same beingpreferably of the doublehook type, so asto be capable of performing itsproper function irrespective of the door opening through which the mailis delivered. 83 and 84 are similar drums rigid with sprocket wheels 79,85 and 86 indicating cables secured at their opposite ends re-.spectively to drums 83 and 84. When the truck occupies its normalposition within the car said cables are partly wound upon the drums andwhen the truck moves to the right the cable 85 is partly unwound fromdrum 83 and cable 86 is more fully wound by anti-friction rollsindicated by the adjacent arrow in Fig. 8, upon drum 84, oppositemovement of the and thus causetlever 55 by forwardpressure truckreversing the action of the cables on arm 30, to trip the pawl fromengagewith respect to the drums. Bearing a jourment with the ratchetwheel 35 against the naled relation t'o the shaft-carrying drumresistance of spring 33, see Fig. 14. As a 84 and in line with-drum 83is a sheave 87. resultof this action the shaft is thrown out a similarsheave 88 being arranged at the of gear with the master gearwheel. 36,so opposite end of the truck and in line with that the withdrawal of theslide-plate 39. the drum 84, said sheaves forming bending through theoperation of the rock shaft 40 points for the cables 85 and 86respectively by trip 47 shall. not result in the rotation of when thebasket hereinafter described pershaft 21 to effect the operation of thedelivforms its delivery function at the opposite ery apparatushereinafter described.

Extending transversely of the car and secured upon the floor of the samebetween the door openings 3 are the parallel rails 66 of a trackway andmounted upon said trackway is a wheeled truck 67, constructed as-follows:-68 is a rectangular frame braced centrally by a transverseskeleton frame 69 and flanked by a pair of bars 70 rigidly connected toand spaced 'somedistance outward of the side bars of the frame, andarranged between the sidebars of the frame and bars 70 and suitablyjournaled are the wheels 71 of the truck. the same being flanged 'attheir inner edges to guard against dislocation from the trackway. 72 arerollers arranged between the sides of the frame and bars 70 andprojecting above the upper edges of the samefor a purpose whichhereinafter appears. 73 are guard walls bearing a rigid relation to thetruck outward of bars TO'and said guard walls project upward aconsiderable distance above rollers 72. and are of substantiallysemi-hexagonal form in sideview and are provided with inwardlyprojecting horizontal flanges 74 and inclined end flanges 75, andcarried by and bearing a journaled relation to the guardwalls areanti-friction" 68' rolls 7 6. 77 are. brackets projecting sidesof thecar. 89 is a bar extending longitudinally of the truck and carried byand within the skeleton frame 69 at one side of the longitudinalcenterof the truck and depending from said bar is a double hook 9(a). oneterminal of the same being adapted to enterthepocket 91 of the slidableand preferably U'-,h aped channel 92 fitting in a flanged channel guide93 extending transversely of the car, the slidable channel beingequipped at the opposite side of the ring 94 for engagehook with a flatsp ment with the opposite terminal of said 50 in the ocket. At'its innerend the slidable channe is provided with an offset arm 9*, and at itsouter end with an oppositely projecting offset arm 96, and connected tothe arm 95 is an outwardly extending cable 97. and to the arm 96 isconnected one end of an inwardly extending cable 98, said cablesextending through the floor of the car and over suitably secured sheaves99 and 100 located beyond the opposite ends of the flanged channel guide93. Secured tothe floor of the car below the chain is a spring 101,having its free-end oflset as at 102, and saidsprin'g is adaptedtoengage the inner terminal of. the double hook 82 when the outerterminal "of said hook is in engagement book when the first-namedterminal is with with the pocket piece 103 secured to the floor of thecar. (See Figs. 8 and 2(5). EX- tending transversely through the truckwithin the skeleton frame 69 is a pair of rock shafts 104 and 105,equipped at their outer ends with upwardly projecting handles 100 and107, respectively. W'ithin the skeleton frame shaft 104 provided with aright-angle shaped crank arm 108 projecting toward shaft 105 andprovided with depending lugs 109 and 110 for respective engagement withthe oflset end 102 of spring 101 and the free en'dof the spring 94, todepress the free ends of said springs below the path of hooks 82 and 90.A similar crank arm 111 rejects from shaft 105 and is equipped withdepending lugs 112 and 113 for depressing the free ends of springs 94and 101 respectively, below the double hooks 90 and 82, and in thisconnection it is desired to state that the proper rock shaft 104 or 105is operated to depress the springs only when it is desired to shift theposition of the truck from one side of the car to the other in order toeffect the delivery of the mail. at the opposite side of the car, andwhen it is desired to prevent the operation of the truck when passing astation where no mail is to be delivered or re reived.

114 indicates the basket, the same being of substantially U-form in endview, see Fig. 20, with the lower portions of its sides tapering inwardand downward by preference, so as to fit betwen the flanged Walls/T3 ofthe truck, and secured to the lower edges of the basket arc horizontalplates 115 which rest upon rolls 72 and underlie the flanges of theguard walls73, and said plates are provided with slots 116 through whichrolls 70 may pass when the inner end of the basket tilts upward ordownward as hereinafter explained, and said plates are la'aced neartheir slotted edges by vertical plates 11?. The outer end of cable 85 isat:

' tar-lied at 118 'to the outer end of the basket and the inner end ofthe cable 86 is attached to the inner end of the basketat 119, see Fig.21. The cable 97 from below the-floor of the ear extends under andaround a suitably guided shea e 120 to a sheave segment 121 'journaledon shaft 21 and said cable is kept taut at all times by a retractilespring 122, connected at one end to a fixed part of the car and at theother end to a cable 123 woundpartly around and secured to the hub ofsaid segment and said segment is formed at one side with :1 lug 124. Thecable 98 from below the floor of the car extends under and around asuitably supported sheave 125. and thence diagonally outward and forwardaround a guide sheave 126, to asheave segment 127 corresponding tosheave segment 121, and cable 98 is kept taut b a spring .128 attachedto a fixed part-of tile car and extends around a suitably supportedsheave 137 and up into the car and around a suitably supportcdsheave 138and is attached at 130 to the slidable door 3, the door being heldnormally closed by a weight 140 through the medium of a suitably guidedcable 141.

142 is a slotted arm rigidly mounted on shaft 21, and fitting in saidarm is an ex'- pansive coil spring 143 tending to hold a plunger 144pressed toward the outer or free end of the arm, said plunger beingprovided with a laterally projecting lug145, adapted once in eachrevolution, to engage lug 132 and thereby rotate the shaft segment 131and through the connection described open the door 3, said plungerimmediatcly after effecting the opening of the door coming in contactwith cam 146 secured to cross bars 37, which represses the plunger sothat it may pass said cam and the lug 132 of sheave segment 131, thedoor being held open by the engagement with one of the ratchet teeth 147of the sheave segment 131.- of gravity catch 148,.pivotally supportedfrom a fixed point on the car, see Figs. 8 and 15.

149 is a part corresponding in all respects to parts 142 to 145inclusive, the lug of theplunger of said part 140 immediately after thedoor is opened coming in contact with the lug 124 of sheave segment 121and rotating the latter so as to draw cable 97 in the directionindicated by the adjacent arrow, Fig. 8. This action causes the trucking until its outer end is substantially flush 'with the outer side ofthe carand through 'said outward movement of the truck, cable 98 isdrawn in the direction indicated by the arrow adjacent thereto, Fig.8,so as to swing segment 12? in the opposite direction to segment .121,these segments always moving together but in reverse directions, andwhen the truck has advanced to the position explained. the springactuated plunger of part 140 engages a earn 150 corresponding to cam 141and is repressed thereby out of the path of lug 124 of the sheavesegment 121. The movement of the truck referred to is relatively slowand during such-movement the basket moves with and in the same directionas but'at greater speed than the truck owing to the fact thatthe chainis 'fixed to the pocket piece 103 of the floor, that is to Y the lug ofthe part lfilcorresp'onding to part say, as the truck moves aim thetrackway,

the loop of the chain exten mg around the sprocket wheels of thetruck-moves with it and at the same time the chain travels and iuostroller 7 6, this position of the basket-be].

ing attained as the outward movement of the truck ceases. The baskettherefore ately tilts by gravity to the position shown in full linesFig. 21 until its plates'115 rearward v of their slots '116 come incontactwith the es7 5 of the truck, this the dischar e of the mail whichthe asket is char? readily understood; Short y charge of the mailpouchesiis accomplished,

149 comes into engagement with thelug 130 of sheave segment 127androtates the some back to the position shown in Fi ,"8 and 15, for thepurpose 'ofpreversingt e move ment of the cables" 97'and 98 andrestoring the basket and the sheave segments to normal position it beingobvious that the action of the sprocket cham is 'also-revemed' to causecable to return the basket andcable 86 to-tpermit such-return, itbeingnoticed by re erence to Fig. 21, particularly,

that when the basket is drawn-hack the rear. ends of its plates 115slidea inst'the under;

side of flanges 74 of the'tru'c andthat after the basket throughgravitative act-ion rocks downward at its inner end, it will ride" 11 7QB the outermost roller 76 andflthen the ot er rollers 76 successivelyuntil tliie rear ends ofv the slots 116 clear the rearmostrollers whenthe basket will dro down to whoriz'on'tal position. Should t e basketfailtotravel as stated and the real ends of its laws 115 continueioslide back on flanges 4", it will be compelled to rock dow ward at itsinnerend as soon as such ends of said flanges strike the innerinclinedflanges 7 6 of the truck and by the time the truck gets back toits original position the basket will also have attained. it originalposition with respect thereto, as shown in Fig. As the sheave segmentattains its original position as shown in Fig. 8, the pin 152'projectinglaterally from said sheave, engages and trips catch 148 from engagementwith ratchet 14?, and thus permits theweight 140 to reclose door 3. Inthis coiiiiection it is desirable to state that an alarm is soundedintlie car before the door opens. as a notice to the postal clerk thatthe trip 47 has been encountered and that the truck will be operatedunless the clerk desires to prevent such operation through theinstrumentality of the proper rock shaft of the truck as hereinbeforeexplained. The alarm preferably consists-of a bell 153 of .any suitabletype to be actuated by a pull cord 154; connected to thezcable', 136 soas to respond the instant thecab'le begins to move and said cable 136between the. pull cord and the door, is preferably provided with a 5ring section 155 iwhich will operated an time avoid moving the dooruntil after the clerk has ,had an opportunity to unlock the truck fromslida'ble channel 92. -If the clerk ignores the warning, the

compression ofspring 26 so as to cause arm 22 to rotate'in thesamedirection .and r0- tate-the shaft 21 for the pur use of effectingsuccessively the opening of t e door, the out- =ward'mo-vement of thetruck" and ba'sket, the return movement of said parts, and-the trippingofthe catch 148 to permit the door to meclose. It" will thus be seenthat the spring 26 establishes a yielding relation between the pawlcarrying a m 27 and arm 22 to :avoid impartingqsud on movement to said;arm and to the parts rotatable with shaft E21. Before the, variousoperations enugmerated have been completed, the slide plate ;39 has beenreturned to its initial osition fby the spring-actuated lever 40 an bythe illlill the door is permittd to close," the ,jmaste'r gear hascompleted a revolutiona'nd ,thearm2'9 of the pawl 28 has come in con-'.tact. with said sli a plate and efiected the Etripping of the tooth ,32from engagement jwi'th the ratchet wheel, it being noted that :thetr'pin of the pawl e a ement 'gwith t era tchet wheel is cushioii e dliythe is'pring 26 and that when the arm 22 engages the plate 39,-thelatter is notsub- Jected to any material strain as the-movement of thearm 22 following thetripping .of the pawl, is due to the very slightmomentum'it acquiredby the slow rotation of the shaft.

If it is desired to manually eifect the action of the truck and hence ofthe basket,

it may be accomplished by the following means: 156 is asuitably-journnled shaft equipped below the floor of the car with a drum1 57; 158 is a hand wheel provided with'a stern 1'59 capable of beingfitted down intoand interlocking with the shaft 156. so as to turnnthesame when the hand wheel is turned Engaging the drutn lffl is unable 160which extends forward and around a pair of suitably supported sheaves161, and is attached in any suitable manner at its opposite ends tocables 97 and 98 so that in effect the cable 160 forms an integralconnection between those parts, and as cables 97 and 98 lead from pointsadjacent to sheaves 161 to basket lugs 95and 96of the slide channelbelow the'basket, it will be seen that. by turning the wheel'in thedirection indicated by the adjacent arrow, Fig. 8, the truck is causedto move outward, opposite movement of the hand wheel reversing themovement of the truck. If such construction is employed itwill beconvenient to, in effect, nest the manually operated mechanism with themeans for throwing shaft 21 out of gear with the master gear wheel 36,but the handle for operating the truck must be removed, before thehandle 63 for throwing said shaft out of gear can be secure in position,it bein noted in this nested construction as'shown by Fig. 12, that theshaft 62 is arranged within shaft 156 and is provided with a socket 162mmrotatably receiving the squared lower end of shaft section 163carrying the handle 63, the said handle in the preferred construction,see Fig. 13', occupying the recess 64 iu the upper bearing secured inthe floor of the" car. --In Fig. 25 which shows the rear side of thetruck, the guard wall 73 ,shown-is notched at its lower corners as at161 for a purpose which hereinafter appears, and pivoted at- 165 to saidWall is an adjustable bar 166 adapted to be held by spring actuated pin167 in the position shown in full or the position shown in dotted linesso that the opposite ends of said bar shall at different times formclosures for the notches 164. When the bar occupies the position shownin dotted lines it is adapted as the truck moves outward to open themail receiver carried by. the car as hereinafter explained, and when inthe position shown in full lines the truck may move outwardwithout'operating the receiver. The opposite end of the bar is designedfor use with the receiver when used in the door openingat the oppositeside of the car and therefore when the truck is moving outward towardthe last-named opening and in this connection it is desirable to statethat all of the parts described with the exception of the parts numberedfrom 1 to 16 inclusive, shaft 18, and the truck and basket are induplicate, in order to adapt the truck and basket for operation throughboth of the side door openingsof the car, and when it is desired toshift the truck laterally of the car for use in connec tion with the oposite door opening the mail clerk rasps tiie upper end of the handle ofsha t 104 or as the case may be, and rotates such shaft to depress thesprings 101 and 94 as hereinbefore explained. He'then applies pressureand pushesthe truck laterally of the car in which action the doublehooks 82 and 90 will pass over said springs and eventually over theduplicate set of said springs and engage the duplicate pockets 103 and91 of the duplicate slidable channel bars 92, the said duplicate partsbeing omitted from the drawings.

Referring now to the receiver carried by the car and which may be induplicate, or

capable of transfer from one side ofthe car' to the other; 168 is avertical shaft journaled in brackets 169 and 170 secured respectively tothe side of the car and to a wear plate 171 secured to said side. 172 isa crank arm secured to said shaft near its" lower end and of such formthat its free end normally projects into the adjacent door opening inthe path of the depressed end of the adjustable bar 166 so that said barin the outward movement of the truck shall strike said crank arm 172 androck shaft 168, the bar 166 when substantially occupy ing the positionshown in full lines Fig. 25, passing over'the said crank arm withoutoperating the same. At its upper end the shaft 168 carries a crank 173pivotally connected to a rod 17 1 extending through a guide 175securedto plate 171, a spring 17 6 being mounted on said rod andarranged to offer resistance to the outward movement im-- parted tocrank arm 17 2 by the truck, that is by the bar 166 thereof, Plate 171is provided with a plurality of horizontal ribs 177 which, at theirforward ends, extend into the door opening, and at their forwardextremities are provided with shoulders178. Near their rear ends theribs are formed with outwardly projectinglugs 179 contain ing slots 180,which diverge forwardly with respect to the side of the car, see Fig. 7,and near their front ends the ribs form supports for'aplurality ofsimilar pivot pins 181.

182 indicates the arms of the curved mail pouch receiver, the outer endsof said-arms being connected to ether as at 184. At the outer or convexsi es the arms 182 are pivotally connected at 185 to the front ends ofa'plurality of inclined braces 186, which are bifurcated at their rearends to receive the lugs 179 of ribs 177 and are provided at such endswith ivot pins 187 engaging the slots of'sai lugs. The arms 182 of thereceiver are provided at their inner ends with bifurcated extensions 188fitting over adjacent ends of the ribs 177 and pivotally engaging thepins 181, and journaled in the bifurcated ends of the arms 182 is avertical shaft 189, pfovided at its upper end of the receiver are shortand preferably curved arms 193, which when the receiver is set, that isopened, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and *1, project transversely' into thecar abov'e -fthebasket and effect the deposit of the poiiche's o'n-tothe floorof the car forof thetruck, the curvature of the receiver andsaid inwardly projecting arms checking the speed of the pouches to suchan extent that neither they nor their contents will be injured throughthe force with 10 which they strike thecar floor. To oper: ativelyconnect the receiver with rockshaft =-168,"the bif urcated extension ofthe underniost'arin 182 is provided with a lug 194, pivotally connectedb a'link 195 to the arm 1730f said rock sha t 168. 7

Assuming that mail has been delivered from the ca'r through the agencyof the basket and has been received through the agency of the receiver,it will be seen that as the truck starts to make its return movementwithin the car the pressure on the arm 172 is removed and as a resultspring 176 rocks shaft168 back to its original position ""atid"at thea'rhe" time, through the medium swings-theater toward thecar, pivotbolts181*1n"this action-sf the "link 191 being "caused thriiiighthe inwardino'vement of the uppermost brace 186 and crank 190, to rock soshaft-189 about ninety degrees in the proper direction to swing sucharms 193'outward so that they shall bear a folded relation to thereceiver when folded against thecar, and shall lie outward of the planeof the is s lifdable' dobr to avoidinterfermg with the ;closureof;t,hesame.

' V Referrihg now to Figs. 29 to 33 inclusive, 'il'liist ratin" thepreferredtype of station crane for ioldi ng"a"'mail pouch in positionO'tb be picked up by the receiver, 196 is a standard preferably of angleiron, and secured to the upper end of the same is a 'bracltet'197,provided with a guide arm 198 bfsubstantially semi-circular form in plan5. view and which slopes downward from its center toward its ends.Standard 196 is also ppoyided with, an arm 200 arranged above andbearing a downwardly divergingirelation thereto at its ends, see Fig.

,the two armstogether forming a curved guideivay 201, having flaringmouths 202. Journaled in the upper part of said bracket is a sheave 203engaged by a cable 201 which is attached at one end by preference to an5, arm 205 projecting from the standard, and

'at its opposite end to a crank arm 206, secured to the; upper end of avertical shaft 20?,journaled in a pair pf bearings 208, slidably"engaging the arms,of the angle 0 standard,- the free end of the crank206, be-

ingprovided wit-h a depending V-shaped tooth 209 for engagementat timeswith the notch,190 of arm 198, it being noted that when the tooth of thecrank arm 200 is in ,engagement with said notch, it will be imouter endwith a cross bar 210.

possible for the bearings 208 to slide downward; Adjacent to eachbearing the shaft carries a horizontal arm 209, equipped at its 211 aretransverse bars having oppositely disposed sets of rack teeth 2122131andprovided centrally at the opposite edges from said teeth with loops 214,the loop of'one of the bars 211 projecting upward therefrom and fittingon the upper arm 209 and the loop of the other bar 211 depending andfitting on the lower arm 209, springs 215 occupying said loops andtending to hold the upper bar 211 pressed downward into engagement witha pair of angle iron jaws 216 pivoted upon shaft 207. The lower bar isheld by its spring 215 pressed yieldingly upward against jaws 217similar to jaws 216 and similarly pivoted on shaft 207, engagement ofsuch bars with said jaws being to hold the same apart against theresistance of compression springs 218, pressing inwardly upon each jaw,the said springs being mounted upon rods 219 extending through care 220projecting from the jaws. The outer ends of the springs bear againstwashers 221, and nuts 222 engage the outer ends of said'rods for thepurpose of adjustment to vary the tension of the springs. For the urposeof releasing the jaws by withdrawmg the toothed bars 211, similarbrackets 223 are secured to bars 209 and have pin and slot connectionsas at 2241 with the loops 214 of tlie channeledbars and carry pivotallylevers .225, for engagement with lugs 226, projecting from said loops214, see Fig.82. By operating the levers 225 they engage the lugs 226and respectively raise and depress the upper and lower toothed bars andthus permit springs 218 to swing the jaws inward or toward each otherand clamp a mail pouch not shown, between them, this operation beingerfornied when the jaws are lowered. Tie operator then. grasps and pullsupon cable 20 1 and thus elevates the jaws and the mail pouch carriedthereby.- 'it being understood that before the elevation is completedthe crank arm 206 must be disposed parallel with the trackway adjacentto which the crane is arranged in order that said arm may enter one ofthe daring months 202 of the guidewav 201 between arms 108 and 200. Thecontinued elevation of the jaws is then accomplished by rotary movementof the same imparted through the passage of the arm 200 through theinclined guideway, and as the arm attains a position transversely of thetrackway its tooth enters the notch 199. The cable is then released andthe jaws maintain the position to which they have been adjusted. theupper jaws being disposed above add the lower oncs bc lowtheplane oftravel of the receiver of the car as shown in dotted lilies Fig. 29, sothat as the latter passes it will catch the pouch swmging movement isimparted to the jaws which overcomes the frictional resistance betweennotch 199 and tooth 209, so as to 1 cause the latter to ride out of theformer and.

move downward as permitted h the inclination of the ide. It is also 0vious that the rock sha t "207 and the parts carried thereby move in asimilar direction and that as the crank arm. eventually passes out ofthe guideway the jaws will have described. a quarter revolution and willbe standing substantially parallel with the trackway. As this osition ofthe jaws is attained and the era ,arm leaves the guideway, the rockshaft and the parts carried thereby drop vertically downward, the cable204 having suflicient slack to permit the movable part of the crane todr p downward to a point where a person upon the ground can readilysecure a second mail pouch'between the jaws.

In practice there may be a series of cranes at a station, the only limitto the nnmber being'that they shall not conflict with ach other whenswinging and shall all be within the path of the receiver during thetime that it 18 standing in set or opened position.

By reference to Fig. 29 it will be seen that the basket when in dumpingposition passes below the jaws of the crane or cranes and that there isno conflict of operation between said basket and the receiver, it beingfurther noted that a receptacle 227 is arranged to receive the pouch orpouches discharged by the basket and thus guards against the suction ofsuch pouches under the car, the arrangement being such that thereceptacle will be forward of the crane or series of cranes and receivethe pouch or pouches from the car before the latter collects the pouchor pouches from the crane or cranes.

For a brief rsum of the operation it may be stated that as the trainapproaches a station, the station trip 47 effects the withdrawal of theslidable stop plate 39 to permit the pawl 28 to engage the ratchet wheel35 and the shaft 21 be causedfto describe one revolution, the stop platereturning to its original position shortly after the rotation of theshaft begins for the purpose of arresting the shaft in the mannerexplained at the end of one revolution. In the initial part of theoperation of the shaft the alarm mechanism is operated to attract theattention of the mail clerk. If no mail is to be delivered to orcollected from such station. the clerk me i through the operation ofrock shaft 62 be ore the station trip is encounlered, throw the pawl outof gear with the ratchet wheel so-that shaft 21 shall remain stationary.If for any. reason the clerk doesnot wish the truckiand receiver tooperate after the alarm has notified him that the trip has beenencountered, he rasps and operates the handle of the rock s aft 104 or105 as the case may be and thus disengages the truck from the slide 92so that the operatiorioflhe latter shall not impart movement to thetruck and hence "to the receiver, it being understood that the door willopen and close as usual. Assuming that mail is to be delivered orreceived or both delivered and received, the truckwill be left in gearwith-the slides 92, so that it shall move outward-after the door isopened, open the receiver and efi'ect the dumping of the basket and thenreturn to its original position and incidentally return the basket tonormal position and permit the receiver to close. At stations wherethetrain makes a stop, it will be unnecessary and in some casesundesirable to automatically operatethe truck-and in thisrcase'thesame'w ll be operated manually after the train steps through theinstrumentality of the hand wheel 158, as

hereinbefore explained, to deliver mail without setting the receiver,either automatically or manually, the bar 166 of the truck can be soadjusted that the receiver will-not be operated when the truck operates.a

From the above description it will be apparent that'I have roduced amail exchange system embod 'ing the features of advantage enumerate asdesirable in the statement of the object of the invention and I wish itto'be understood that I do not desire to be restricted to the exactdetails of construction shown and described as obvious modificationswill suggest themselves to one skilled in the art- Having thus describedthe invention what I claim as new and desire to secure bv Letters Patentis.:

1. In a mail exchange apparatus, a car having a door opening, a doorcontrolling the same, and'mcans actuated by the revolution of the axleof the car, for opening the said door.

2. In mail exchange apparatus, a car having a door opening, a doorcontrolling the some. means' t'o close the door when unopposed,periodically-operated means, means actuated by the early part of eachmovement of said periodically-operated means for opening the car door,and means to disengage the periodically-operated means and the dooropening means before the movement of the former ceases.

In mail exchange apparatus, a car having a door opening, adoorcontrolling the some, means to close the door when ,unopposed.periodically-operated means, means actuated by the carlv part of eachmovement of said periodically-operated means for opening'the car door,means to disen age the periodically-operated means and t e door and ifit is desired opening means before the movement of the

